Italian Films

Italian films used to be quality filmmaking, with movies known all around the world with their deep story and quality directing. Nowadays though, Italian films do not have the same care put into them nor a good reception compared to how they did in the past. 

Italian films are now usually bland, with cheap comedy and jokes, and with stories and characters as deep as a yoghurt container. It is wrong to assume all Italian films are like that though. Once in a while, mostly independent directors, come up with a brilliant idea and create a production that can sometimes have nothing to envy to Hollywood films. One of these films is They Call Me Jeeg (2015) by Gabriele Mainetti. This film takes all the conventions of a superhero movie and essentially flushes them down the drain. Our protagonist is not a conventional superhero. He is not driven by noble endeavours and will to save the world but instead is mainly focused on using his newfound powers to get out of the squalor he lives in, this is the same will that drives all the characters in the film. All the “bad guys” and all the people we see in the movie follow this same purpose.  Another film from an Italian director that caught me off guard with its quality was Tale of Tales (2015) by Matteo Garrone. This film is a different take on the fantasy genre. With spectacular visuals and shot compositions.

These two films managed to change my opinion on Italian movies for the most part, though not completely. But thanks to independent filmmakers stepping in, I am sure it is still possible to change the general perception of Italian films and have some kind of renaissance in the future.

 

Tale of Tales:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvkgHrzodTY

 

They Call Me Jeeg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvt_48b2y7s

 

The Place (a quality film though they basically stole the plot from an American TV series):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDQwNVp65HY